NHL Star Power Index: Sidney Crosby stays hot for ice-cold Penguins, Stars’ Wyatt Johnston records hat trick

Welcome to the NHL Star Power Index: A weekly gauge of the players who are controlling substantial buzz around the league. When a player is included on this list it may not be a good thing — it means that they are capturing a large amount of the hockey world’s attention.

These players are in no particular order when it comes to the amount of buzz that they’re creating. We’ll revisit the Star Power Index every week throughout the regular season.

Sidney Crosby may be in the latter part of his career, but the Pittsburgh Penguins captain remains a big-time offensive producer.

Crosby has recorded a three-game goal streak, including scoring the overtime winner in Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the Utah Hockey Club. It also marked the fourth goal for Crosby in his past five games.

In Wednesday’s contest, Crosby’s game-winning goal gave him a goal and assist on the night, marking the 207th multi-point performance of his NHL career. 

Crosby ended up tying Colorado Avalanche legend Joe Sakic for the most multi-point games in NHL history.

With a little over a minute to go in overtime, Penguins forward Cody Glass dropped off a pass for Crosby in the face-off circle of the offensive zone. Upon scooping up the puck, Crosby made his charge toward the front of the net, and flipped his patented backhanded shot over the glove of Utah Hockey Club goaltender Connor Ingram.

In doing so, Crosby scored the 23rd overtime goal of his professional career. 

Earlier in the game, Crosby earned a primary assist on a goal from teammate Marcus Pettersson. At the 6:40 mark of the second period, Crosby attempted to set up a Rickard Rakell goal, but Rakell’s shot was turned aside by Ingram. However, Crosby was able to secure the loose puck in the corner before sending it out to the blue line. At the blue line, Pettersson was waiting for the puck and uncorked a massive slap shot that found the back of the net.

At 37 years old, Crosby is on pace for 85 points this season. It’s unclear if Crosby will finish his career with the Penguins, who are five points out of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Regardless of where he is playing, Crosby is still an elite talent on the ice.

Wyatt Johnston is wrapping up the most productive month of the season as he’s been racking up at points at will.

The Dallas Stars forward has tallied 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in January. Johnston even managed to record a hat trick in Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime win against the Vegas Golden Knights. 

The Stars were trailing the Golden Knights 3-1 when Johnston erupted with a natural hat trick of three consecutive goals. Johnston even scored the overtime game-winner to lift Dallas to a hard-fought road victory. 

Johnston became the youngest player (21 years, 259 days) in team history to score a natural hat trick, edging out teammate Tyler Seguin (21 years, 310 days on Dec. 7, 2013). 

At the 5:04 mark of the second period, Stars forward Roope Hintz was able to intercept a pass in his own zone and started the offensive rush down the ice. Hintz had plenty of open ice in front of him and ripped a shot on net that goaltender Adin Hill got a piece of. However, Johnston was in the right place at the right time as he quickly deposited the rebound into the net for a shorthanded goal to make it a 3-2 deficit.

Johnston ended up tying the game at 3-3 midway through the third period. Hintz and Johnston combined to produce another sensational goal as the two recorded an impressive give-and-go that ultimately resulted in Johnston sending a snap shot into the net.

After the teams were tied following regulation, Johnston made his mark on the game a final time. Just 20 seconds into the extra frame, Johnston scored one of the easiest goals of his career. Defenseman Esa Lindell sent the puck ahead to Johnston, and Johnston slide it across to Hintz in a two-on-one situation. Hintz quickly made the decision to pass it back to Johnston, who tucked the puck into a wide-open net to win the game.

After scoring 32 goals in his sophomore season in 2023-24, Johnston has seen a little bit of a dip in production after a slow start. However, the 21-year-old has tallied eight goals over the last month, and has recorded a point in seven of his last eight games. The Stars will need Johnston to keep surging if they want to reach the top of the Central Division.

It’s safe to say the Vancouver Canucks‘ season hasn’t exactly been what the franchise envisioned, as it’s barely clinging to a playoff spot. Still, star defenseman Quinn Hughes has managed to produce another stellar campaign, and continues to make history in the process.

Hughes tallied a pair of assists in Monday’s 5-2 win against the St. Louis Blues. In doing so, he became the first defenseman in franchise history to record his 100th multi-point game.

Hughes also tallied his 77th career multi-assist game in the process, tying Thomas Gradin for the fourth-most in team history. Now, Hughes only trails Henrik Sedin (181), Daniel Sedin (107) and Stan Smyl (79) for the most career multi-assist games in Canucks history. 

It didn’t take Hughes long to get his night started on the right foot. Just 2:52 into Monday’s contest, forward Jake DeBrusk was able to get the puck free and Hughes scooped it up near his own goal line. Hughes then roared down the ice into the Blues zone, where he passed the puck across the slot to Conor Garland for the bang-bang goal.

Hughes earned his second primary assist of the game at the 8:26 mark of the second period when the Canucks were on the power play. The veteran defenseman possessed the puck in his own zone, and sent a rocket pass the length the ice to teammate J.T. Miller. Miller was able to get in all alone on the breakaway and snapped a shot past Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington.

Entering Friday, Hughes leads all NHL defensemen in points (58) as he holds a two-point advantage over Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche. His 44 assists also lead all NHL blue-liners after tallying four assists over his last two games.

Connor Hellebuyck has established himself as one of the NHL’s premier goaltenders. The Winnipeg Jets goaltender has tallied a 4-0-0 record, a 1.75 goals-against-average and a .930 save percentage in his last four starts. The American-born netminder has allowed two or fewer goals in each of those four contests. 

Most recently, Hellebuyck turned aside 27 of the 29 shots he faced in a 6-2 win against the Boston Bruins on Thursday. It also marked the eighth win for Hellebuyck across his last nine games.

Hellebuyck leads all NHL goaltenders in wins (32), goals-against-average, 2.00) and save percentage (.927). According to Money Puck, Hellebuyck is recording a .967 save percentage when he faces unblocked shots this season, ranking first among eligible goalies.

Entering Friday, the Jets lead the NHL in points (75) and are looking to make a potential run at the Stanley Cup. If Hellebuyck continues to provide a consistent presence in between the pipes, Winnipeg certainly can be one of the top contenders when the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.